Improvement in wire-twisters for self-binders



E. CHAPMAN.

WIRE-TWISTER FOR SELF-BINDERS.

Patented Nov. 21 1876.

"UNITE STATEs PA ENT CEEIGE.

ED WIN CHAPMAN, or EocEEsTEE, MINNEsOTA, AssIIeNoR To THE cEAPMAN BINDERooMP NY.

IMPROVEMENT IN WIRE-TWISTERS FOR SELF-BINDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 184,505, dated November21, 1876; application filed September 4, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWIN CHAPMAN, of

Rochester, in the State of Minnesota, have invented an Improvement inTwisting Mechanism for Self-Binding Harvesters, of which the followingis a specification:

Harvesters have been made witha revolving hook for twisting together theends of the wire that secures the bundle. With this kind of twister theend of the wire remains simply in a coil around the hook after thebundle and its band are delivered, and it is liable to become misplaced,or to untwist and draw off the hook under the strain to which it is subjected in drawing the wire around the next bundle.- To prevent this thewire has to be heavier or stifier than would otherwise be required forbinding the'bundle of grain, and the coil of wire left upon the end ofthe hook after the separation of the twisted wire band has to be forcedoff the hook by the next coil that is twisted upon the hook.

My improvement consists in a twister with a tapering shank and a T-head,applied in connection with the parts that compress the bundle and carrythe wire, in such a manner that the T-shaped end of the'twister in itsrevolution catches and twists together the two parts of the wire thatare brought near each other after passing around the bundle, and at thesame time twists a coil of wire around theshank of the twister. is done,there are two cutters brought up at opposite sides of the twister, thatseparate the wire, so that the completed bundle fall-s away, and at thesame time the coil of wire that had been left around the shank to holdthe end of the wire to the twister is cut at opposite sides and fallsaway.

By this construction I am enabled to use smaller and softer wire thanheretofore, because the twisting operation is very perfect, securing theends of the wire together, and

the coil of wire that is left around the ta- After this cause the T-headefl'ectually holds the same, and the wire passing up from the lower orback end of the coil draws the coil itself against the T-head, lockingthe same, and the wire bends at an angle against the T-head, so that itcannot move, and will be held or locked firmly, even when thin soft wireis used. After the wire has been twisted to hold the bundle, and a freshcoil has been wound around the shank a little distance away from the T-head, the first coil is cut to pieces and falls away, and the last coildraws along the tapering shank to the T-head as the wire is againstretched for a new bundle.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation of the twisting mechanism, andFig. 2 is a plan of the same.

There are several grain-binding machines that have been patented, andone for which I have made application for a patent, in which the wirepasses around a roller, a, in a nearly vertical position, and againstwhich the grain falls, and the wire is carried by an arm, 1), around thebundle c, and the said wire is brought by the arm adjacent to theportion of the Wire below the roller a. It is at this point that mytwister is to be employed, and its tapering shank d is in line, ornearly so, with these wires; and it has a cross or T head at the end,and one or both of the points should be bent into a curve, to insure theproper catching of the wires, and the twisting of them together by therevolution of the twister. Any suitable gearing is tobe used tocommunicate to the twister the proper revolution at the right time.

I arrange the sliding cutters hh at opposite sides of the shank of thetwister, and near the head, and I bring them up simultaneously by leversl and links m, actuated by the double crank-piece n, or other suitablemeans, that are operated as soon as the revolution of the twister isstopped, to separate and cut to pieces the coil, as aforesaid.

I claim as my invention 1. The Wire-twister in a grain-binding machine,made with a cross or T head upon the end of a slightly-tapering shank,for the'purpose of twisting the wires outside the T-head,

and winding the wire from the carrier-arm 3. The combination of theT-headed twister around the taper shank, substantially as deand itsshank, and the cutters, with the levers scribed. r a for actuatingthecutters, arranged and oper- 2. The cornbi'nation,with the revolvingtwistated substantially as set forth.

er and shank in a grain-binding machine, of Signed by me this2th day ofAugust, 1876.

two knives acting at opposite sides of the shank of the twister, to cutthe wire for liber- EDWIN CHAPMAN. ating the bundle and separating thecoil of Witnesses: wire from the twister and shank, substan- THUS. H.MGOONNELL,

tially as set forth. O. H. BLISS.

